Meeting was called to order by President Nicholas Welzenbach.
 
Pledge of allegiance was led by Sarita Johnson.
 
Inspiration was from John Pencer who spoke about how the goals of the Olympics are similar to those of Rotary. Both set an example of peaceful interaction and the hope that a better world is possible.
 
Nicholas reminded us to thank the staff of Shir Hadash in particular Gary Geller, Cindy Weinberg, and Diego Mendoza for being so welcoming and their support in helping our weekly meetings come together. 
 
Continuing the theme of music today’s song was Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head by B.J. Thomas. The song was suggested by Andrew Stearns. This song was enjoyed by the Stearns family when Andrew was young and he liked the message about being positive and the effect attitude can have on your life. The family even had a cat named Raindrop.
 

Guests:

  • Jon Cowan from the Palo Alto Rotary is thinking about transferring to our club. Jon works for El Camino Hospital and spends much of his time in LG.
  • Suzanne Boxer-Gassman introduced Amy Lee who is visiting for the second time and thinking about joining our club. She is interested in getting a group together for golf.
  • Former LGR member Ron Letterman, was visiting from Studio City/Sherman Oaks Rotary. Thanks for stopping by Ron, we’ve missed you and your jokes. 
  • Randy Cobb introduced Kathie Benko, AKA the egg lady. He shared all the volunteering Kathie does with House of Hope in addition to the amazing eggs she does for St. Lukes. This week she did an Olympic theme. Thanks for all you do Kathie.
  • Dr. Erin Harnett, who was Nicholas’ guest last week, brought her own guest Kalisha Emami. Kalisha is her business partner and they are opening another wellness center in LG. Nice to see you again Erin, thanks for joining us Kalisha.
  • Ramon Ware is a prospective member. Ramon is a growth coach located in south San Jose. Thanks for joining us Ramon, enjoyed meeting you.
 
 

Announcements:

We were reminded of the memorial service for Hank Otto will be held at Los Gatos Presbyterian Church on Aug. 14 at 10:30.
 
Nicholas shared pictures of his beautiful family. Fun fact: Nicholas and Kendall have exactly the same birthday and were born only one hour away from each other in the Midwest, but met in San Diego.
 
Rotary anniversaries were announced by Marlon Smith, who kept his promise and didn’t sing.
Celebrating in July are:
Lisa Cheskin
Sarita Johnson
Michelle Behr
Irene Carrion-Upson
Tom Anthony
Gregg Butterfield
Robert Chaykin
Ron Cassel
Congratulations, thank you for all you do for our club and the community.
 
First Tuesday will be at The Palms restaurant on Santa Cruz Ave. Aug 3. Remember NO lunch meeting that day.
 
Barbara Fishman joined us through Zoom (thanks to Doug Brent) to remind us about Santa Maria. Barbara works the front desk every week. She said it is an exciting place with wonderful people and they could really use our help. If you’re interested, contact Alfonso Mendez at alfonso.mendez@santamariasj.org. Introduce yourself as a member of LGR. If you have donations, please drop them at Marty’s office 431 Monterey Ave.  Ste. 3 LG.
 
Patti van der burg thanked Jeffrey Blum, Dick Konrad, Russell Couch, Lisa Cheskin, and Ensy Afdari for their help on a very warm Saturday at Second Harvest Food Bank.
 
Los Gatos Fun Fest continues every Thursday through the end of August 3:00-9:00. Join us in front of  Travel Advisors. Thanks Ed, for opening up your business to us every week.
 

20/20

Randy Cobb had a story about his family and Wally Funk who recently went on the space mission with Jeff Bezos. During the late ‘50s his aunt was selecting people for a team of female pilots, Wally was one of the women she selected. There’s a museum in Oklahoma City honoring these women. 
 
Marlon Smith donated to the scholarship fund for Gordon Levin installing the little library in front of his house. Gordon, you left some screws at the job site.
 
Rachelle Lopp donated to charities, scholarships and club funds for her 25th wedding anniversary. Happy anniversary Rachelle!
 
No program today. We did a hands-on service project packing PPE for Sourcewise. Sourcewise provides support for seniors and their caregivers. Thanks to Rachelle and Meghan for arranging this event.